Gaza militants fired seven mortar shells into southern Israel early on Wednesday, just hours after they fired a Grad rocket into the heart of the southern city of Beersheva, the army said.

The seven mortar shells landed in the Eshkol region which lies just northeast of the coastal enclave, causing no injuries or damage, the army said.

The Israeli army is reportedly preparing for the possibility that Syria might use Hizbullah to launch attacks on the Jewish state to divert attention from the growing protests against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The Israeli daily Haaretz on Wednesday quoted intelligence officials as saying that despite their earlier assessments that the Syrian regime was stable, and the unrest sweeping the Arab world would not affect it, they now believe it will be very hard for Assad to restore the status quo ante.

The Israeli army kidnapped two Lebanese shepherds in the southern town of Rmeish near the border between the two countries, UNIFIL spokesman Niraj Singh said Tuesday.

He said the Israeli army informed U.N. peacekeepers that they arrested the shepherds at 10:15 am after they allegedly crossed the U.N.-drawn Blue Line.

At least one Palestinian was injured on Tuesday when an Israeli airstrike hit a group of militants in eastern Gaza City, medics and witnesses said.

Witnesses reported seeing militants trying to fire rockets into southern Israel shortly before the strike, which was mounted by an Israeli drone and hit the eastern Shejaiya district that lies close to the border.

Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav was on Tuesday sentenced to seven years behind bars after being convicted on charges of rape and other sexual assault offences, Israeli media said.

The judges also handed the disgraced former president a two-year suspended sentence and ordered him to pay compensation of 100,000 shekels ($28,000/20,000 euros) to the main victim, known only as "Aleph.”

Hizbullah MP Nawwaf Moussawi accused the March 14 camp of seeking to thwart Prime Minister-designate from forming a new government, stressing that the Resistance is keen on establishing a strong and just state.

He said: “The March 14 forces’ current campaign is aimed at removing Miqati from his position, which is why they are inciting strife while world powers, headed by the U.S., are exerting direct pressure to prevent the formation of the government.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and MP Marwan Hamadeh have reportedly warned that Hizbullah would continue to attack Israel even if both parties reached a ceasefire.

According to a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Akhbar daily, Jumblat and Hamadeh told U.S. diplomats during a dinner on August 6, 2006 that Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah should be pressured into accepting a ceasefire.

Caretaker Minister Ghazi Aridi said Sunday that a “political decision” was preventing the arming of the Lebanese military with weapons that consolidate it and help it confront Israel.

While Aridi did not say who had taken such a political decision, he stressed that Lebanese leaders should take a “unified stance” that says “no to using arms locally by any side or any team.”

A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Saturday revealed that Defense Minister Elias Murr believed that the Lebanese army would be able to swiftly deploy its troops in southern Lebanon.

The WikiLeaks cable, dated August 8, 2006, said that Murr informed then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman that 15,000 soldiers would be able to deploy in the South within 12 hours if they are ordered to do so.

Christian officials in the March 14 camp feared during the July 2006 war that the conflict would empower Hizbullah more than ever before, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Saturday.

The WikiLeaks cable, dated August 5, 2006, reported on a meeting between then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman, then assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State David Welsh, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, his slain son former minister Pierre, National Liberal party leader Dory Chamoun, National bloc leader Carlos Edde, March 14 general secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid, MPs Georges Adwan, Nayla Mouwad, Nassib Lahoud, and minister Butros Harb.